


Autumn

by smoresies



Category: Naruto
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-09-27
Updated: 2016-09-27
Packaged: 2018-08-18 04:38:12
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 5
Words: 13,033
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8149342
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/smoresies/pseuds/smoresies
Summary: Lee is the spirit of Autumn and one thing he enjoys more than anything is watching everything go to sleep. This is probably what sparks his interest on a young boy, Gaara who seems to never do that. Lee finds himself entranced and one thing he wants more than anything, is to get this boy to smile





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is a story I posted on FF.NET under the penname Pagels. I lost all the information on that account though so the story was discontinued. At some point I will be continuing it, however.

The skies sparkled with hues of blue and the occasional cloud of white blurred out areas of the sun.

The four seasons lain in the clouds, overlooking the world below, awaiting their time to affect different areas of the world for their respective time of year. Currently that season was summer.

Each of the demigods seemed entranced on the world below, ignoring the other spirits bustling behind them.

The season of winter was a spirit who called himself Sasuke. He was about as cold as the winds he created.

The next season was spring, a young woman by the name of Sakura with all the grace and joy of the month to create blossoms everywhere around the world.

The summer season was affected by a boy, Naruto, who seemed way to hyper at times, creating the warmer weather as his passion grew.

Lastly, there was Autumn. The most calming of the seasons, determined to have everything prepared and taken care of before things could freeze over for winter. That spirit was Lee.

Naruto barely paid attention to the other spirits, honing in on his specific regions going through the scolding hot summers. He didn't mean to make them that hot. He was just way too happy and tried to give everyone the best summer they could have. He liked overlooking the humans.

Sasuke took his brooding emotional thoughts on the northern and southern poles, he was able to make them as cold as he could without harming anyone so he had a lot of fun with the constant temperature drops and vicious storms.

Sakura wasted no time jumping off of the clouds and blessing each hibernated tree and plant with the gift of rebirth. Her favorite time was when the first cherry blossom of the season fell to the ground. That wasn't close to happening just yet.

And Lee. Well, Lee simply sat there. For one with so much energy, he couldn't bring enough of it to giving the fall season to the area he remembered most. Sunagakure was probably his favorite place to be.

It all started about nine years ago. He was wondering around poking all of Sakura's beautifully bloomed flowers and trees and watching the petals and leaves fall down. In Sunagakure though, there weren't many trees but he felt as though that he shouldn't ignore his seasonal duties and attempted to figure out other things to do with his time.

He wondered down the streets and silently wondered how his life would be if he were a human. Would he have friends? He didn't know. Sometimes he wished he were one. He would give up immortality to just interact with other people. Lee walked through the crowded streets and didn't bother moving out of the way, he was a spirit. People simply walked through him.

He admired the way people walked, what they wore and even some of their faces. He enjoyed this time. He enjoyed Sunagakure. Even though sometimes he felt bad that he liked Suna because of the lack of work and more downtime. He couldn't help it. Suna was a very peaceful area.

"Look! The leaves are changing color!" That was something that made Lee smile. His work was being acknowledged.

That was the day he met the boy that changed his spiritual existence. He met Gaara.

Gaara was a child. He was about four or five. He was tiny and he kept looking at the ground, afraid to look up. He was standing next to three people, all older. People that Lee would learn to be Gaara's family. His father, sister and brother. No one paid attention to Gaara. He followed them, looking downtrodden. Lee wanted to make him smile.

He made his way over to a leaf and plucked it off of the tree. The leaf was red, one of the most popular colors for autumn leaves. Lee picked it because it matched the color of the boy's hair. He liked the sentiment.

With as much gusto as he could muster, he made the most over dramatic motions of the leaf flying in the wind. He frowned because Gaara wasn't paying attention. With a stomp of his foot, the winds rushed up and caused Gaara's shall to flip over his face. Lee stifled a laugh and the small boy tugged it down and glowered. But he was staring up now. Lee again made the leaf flutter around and Gaara's naturally curious eyes watched the leaf as it slowly descended and landed right on his nose.  
That's when Lee noticed the smallest ghost of a smile on the kid's lips. From that moment on, Lee was hooked.

Through their whole walk he would do the exact same thing. Gaara expected it now, with a small childish grin he would try to grab the leaves before they touched his nose. Lee wouldn't let that happen. Since he was holding the leaf directly in his hands, Gaara's arm would go through him and he cupped the curved leaf so it stayed on the tip of his nose.

Lee smiled at the giggle.

"Gaara!" His father roughly grabbed Gaara's tiny, chubby arm and yanked him forwards. With Gaara's free hand, he held onto the leaf. His body was lopsided as he tried to ground his whole body but found it a difficult challenge with his father practically holding him up with one arm. "Stop slacking and keep up!" He shoved Gaara in front of him and Gaara stumbled and scraped his knee.

Lee was expected to see tears as he stared in shock at how the man handled the small child. Gaara simply hung his head and pushed himself up, ignoring the blood on his knees and palms. He continued to walk.

"Gaara..." Lee practiced the name on his tongue. He continued to walk right besides Gaara, glaring at the father.

Year by year he went out of his way to find Gaara. Every year he wasn't disappointed. Each year, Gaara seemed more miserable. But every year, no matter what, when Lee cupped the first fall leaf of the season on his nose, Gaara's lips twitched upwards.

All year he would look forward to seeing Gaara, but ever since last year, he didn't know what to expect. He could tell that Gaara was mistreated. Having no other recollection of human basic functions, he assumed that children were always treated the same way Gaara was. He didn't like it, he just never questioned it.  
That is, until one year after lazily loafing around he saw that there were parents that treated their small children with kindness. Lee knew kindness. But they all had the same look in their eyes looking at their children. Lee didn't know that emotion. Sakura told him it was love. It was a foreign concept. Love? What was that?  
After observing countless of hundreds of people, he started to piece together what in fact people did to those they loved.

Gaara's father did not love Gaara.

Lee always wondered why. He would follow Gaara often when Suna was in its fall season and he noticed Temari and Kankuro weren't treated the same as Gaara. Even when Gaara was older he was treated even worse.

Lee never felt anger before. He sure as hell felt anger the day he saw Gaara get smacked around while his siblings looked the other way and knowing fully well that he couldn't interact. Just watch in morbid curiosity and horror. How could someone do this to someone they cared about? Lee hadn't seen this sort of dysfunction before. His father never hit Temari or Kankuro.

Lee supposed the strangest thing he could recall was that Gaara never cried. He's never seen it once despite everything he was put through. He just stared like he detached himself from the situation. Lee supposed that was better. Again, he didn't know how human's functioned.

Something else Lee had never witnessed was Gaara speak. He never talked and he constantly wondered if Gaara was able to. What were they called... Mute? Was Gaara a mute?

"Hey bushy brow." Lee snapped out of his trance of endless memories and stared at Naruto. "You thinking about that kid again?" Lee looked straight and admired the light blue sky.

"Yeah." He admitted airily. The other season spirits found his obsession with Gaara very... odd but they never really mentioned it before.

"Well, summer is almost over." Naruto smiled and Lee couldn't keep the soft grin from sneaking up on him.

"I know, Naruto." He stood up and looked downwards.

"Why do you like that kid so much anyway?" Naruto asked curiously. Lee never told them about Gaara. They found out by themselves. He wasn't trying his hardest to hide it.

"I don't know. He's strange. I just... I want to make him fell the happy." Lee announced and Naruto laughed.

"Dude, Lee. It's just feel happy. There's no 'the'." He noted and Lee looked confused but accepted the correction without question.

"Well... Whatever it is, I want him to feel it." Lee said quietly and Naruto scratched his head.

"I've seen him. I met him, actually. He's different." Naruto noted and Lee looked up at him, feeling oddly annoyed at Naruto for meeting Gaara. He didn't know what the wave of over-protection was, but he couldn't ignore it.

"He is." Lee agreed.

"How long have you watched him?" Naruto asked out of curiosity.

"Um... About nine years." Naruto grinned.

"You going to continue?" Lee nodded easily.

"For the rest of his life." He sighed as he said that. There were so many thing he wanted to say to Gaara. So many hugs that he wanted to give. So many angry smacks to give his father. He wanted to interact with him, more than anything.

"You care about him." Sasuke commented emotionlessly. Lee looked over at him and nodded. It seemed rather obvious. "That isn't wise."

"I just want him to be happy." Lee commented softly. "That's all I want."

"Well, what if you can't do that?" Naruto asked and Lee seemed confused by that. How could someone deny happiness? "Gaara is miserable and he's just getting worse."

"...Naruto, may I ask you to do a favor that I would not normally ask of someone?" He seemed tense and Naruto perked a brow.

"Sure? What's up?" Lee scratched the back of his neck.

"Can I see him?" Naruto stared at the calendar and seemed confused.

"Autumn isn't for another month." He deadpanned. Lee winced. "You want me to relieve summer?"

"Just for a couple of days. I promise I won't kill any of the plants. Just give them cooler weather for a while. I'll make it rain or something. Just let me see him. Please, Naruto."

"Well... I suppose I could mess up Sakura's plants for a bit, make them dry out or something." Lee smiled gratefully.

"Thank you Naruto. The youth of summer will not age. You will regain control very soon. I promise. Thank you Naruto." Lee bowed seemingly 102 times and Naruto just grinned at Lee's grateful tactics.

He wasted no time in jumping down and finding his way to Suna. He ran quite fast, he was actually the fastest spirit and everyone in Suna seemed relieved at his presence and he heard a few comments about Fall coming early.

He hated when people called his season the fall. He thought that was lame especially when there was another word to call it that was much more beautiful. Autumn.  
He ran all the way to Gaara's house and couldn't help but feel anxious. Half of the time he didn't know if he had emotions other than determination and happiness but when he was around Gaara, he felt excited, scared, anxious, ect. He felt more humanoid.

He inhaled deeply and walked through the door and went up the stairs and through Gaara's door.

Lee smiled at Gaara's development. He's grown since the last time he saw him. Lee loved that Gaara's hair stayed the same through his ages. Messy, red, spiked hair.  
Gaara was about twelve or thirteen now. Going through pre-teen angst and angst in general because he had an awful home life. Lee sat on Gaara's bed, excited to see Gaara and notice all of the changes in his features. A couple of years he was startled when he saw Gaara and he was older, now it was exciting to see what the other three seasons did to change the boy.

Gaara still had the same chubby rounded face but he was a lot thinner after losing all of his baby fat. The look in his eyes was like he hadn't been to sleep in ages. He had dark rings around his eyes but Lee had always noticed that. Around Gaara's eyes were always black.

He reached out as if to touch Gaara and let a sad smile appear on his lips when he remembered he couldn't.

Lee couldn't recall how long he sat in Gaara's room just staring at him do absolutely nothing. It was probably the most peace he's been at since the last time he sat next to Gaara.

He shifted on the bed and leaned in towards Gaara, examining his face, looking for a sign of life. He hadn't moved in quite some time.

The steady breaths were seen and Lee noticed the smallest notion of his chest expanding with each breath.

“Why are you just sitting here?” Lee asked and was surprised to see Gaara twitch and rub his neck, where Lee would have spoken against. “Can you feel me?” Gaara shivered and stood up and stared at the section of the bed in confusion but shook his head and rubbed his eyes.

“Go to bed, silly.” Lee smiled. “You're imagining things.” He laughed slightly and Gaara continued to stare at the bed like it was going to begin doing tricks. “I don't bite.”

Lee's smile suddenly faltered when he noticed that he didn't keep up on a tradition. He rose up and jumped through Gaara's wall, landing two stories below in the suddenly chilled streets of the night in Suna. He wondered for a while before he came to his destination and smiled when he found a tree. He plucked off a leaf and the color just bled from green to yellow. Just like in the fall.

Lee admired his handiwork and made his way back to Gaara's room and felt a grin make it to his face when he saw the window was cracked open. He was able to life himself up with the wind and made it look like the leaf slipped through the opened window as he jumped up and walked towards Gaara, moving his arm, picking up a slight breeze. Gaara stared in amazement as the leaf seemed to flutter and land perfectly.

Right on the tip of his nose.

Gaara didn't know what to make of it. He reached his hand over his nose and pulled the leaf off and stared at it. And Lee crouched down as Gaara fell back on his bed in amazement, as if he couldn't stand.

Lee could hardly contain himself when his anticipation was answered with Gaara's lips twitching upwards and the smallest ghost of a smile was seen. Then Gaara spoke for the first time Lee had ever witnessed.

“Huh. I didn't know it was autumn yet.”


	2. Chapter 2

## Chapter two

One thing Lee learned in the many years of being Gaara's shadow is when no one was around, Gaara would sneak into his father's den and played the piano.

Lee was there for the first time Gaara found an interest in hitting the keys and was more than excited each year he heard Gaara play, more advanced and beautiful than the year before.

Right now he sat in the room, on top of the piano and watched Gaara's fingers play slowly across the piano keys and realizing that he never wanted to get up and leave. He wanted to watch Gaara play piano forever. He wanted to watch him grow up without huge gaps in the year. He wanted to make sure that nothing ever happened to him. He wanted to protect him.

All of that sounded familiar to him somehow but he never even considered it being a human emotion.

“Bushy brow.” Lee looked up, flushed like he was caught doing something he wasn't supposed to do. “It's been days. Are you done yet?”

“...Yes. I suppose I am.” Lee looked bothered and stared at Gaara one last time. “Don't grow up too much while I'm gone.” He said with a slight bitter undertone. Gaara couldn't hear him and he knew that. What was the point in talking to him?

“Lee...” Naruto walked closer to his friend and placed a hand on his shoulder. “I'm sorry bud.” Lee shook his head.

“It's fine, Naruto.” It was then that Naruto was determined for Lee to find a way to actually talk to this boy who had entranced him for so many years. Lee jumped and just like that, he was out of sight.

Naruto took this time to examine Gaara. He never really let a human entice him as much as Lee ever did, however he couldn't deny, Gaara was unique. And he always looked so... broken. Maybe it was just Lee's need to make everyone happy that attached him to this boy.

“You're a lucky boy.” Naruto said with a warm smile as Gaara sat there unbeknownst to him that there was so much going around him. Naruto didn't realize the irony of his statement and he gave Gaara one last goodbye glance and disappeared, ready to make the autumn chill go away.

*~*~*~*~*~*

“He's been like this for hours.” Sakura whispered to Sasuke. He sighed and stared at him with slight disapproval.

“He shouldn't be this bent out of shape over a human.” He said strongly and Sakura frowned, making it clear to Sasuke that he was going about this the wrong way.

“Sasuke, you know that this is no ordinary human.” She said and then lowered her voice dramatically. “I think he's in love.” Sasuke seemed quick tempered at her statement and took a step back and glared.

“He is the season of fall, he shouldn't be wasting his time, pinning over some 13 year old boy.” He snapped and didn't notice that Lee even retorted.

“Autumn.” He corrected softly, hands grasping his knees tightly.

“Yeah Sasuke, don't disrespect him.” Sakura reprimanded and Sasuke continued to glower.

At this moment, Lee wondered why Sakura and Sasuke were discussing his personal matters among themselves. He then concluded that he didn't mind. They could talk about it all they wanted. They didn't know how he felt or why. He didn't even know. All he did know, was that the summer seemed to be dragging on and he was probably ruining the autumn season for everyone by disregarding it and staying up in the air. He felt as though the weather could figure itself out right now.

~*~*~*~*~*~*

Gaara sat in his room looking at the floor. It seemed to be his favorite pass-time hobby. He didn't know what else to do. His family was out, he was alone. Sometimes he felt as though he would never belong with anyone. He was always going to be alone.

He rose up and walked to his door, gently placing his hand on the knob and jiggling it. Locked.

He sighed and sat back down and stared at the floor. He didn't know why his father hated him so much. He didn't know why everyone was scared of him. He didn't remember doing anything crazy. He just didn't know why everyone didn't like him. For a while he liked them. Now he wasn't so sure what to think anymore.

He rose from his bed and did a quick scan of the area from outside his window. He was facing the opposite way of the road so if he jumped out of the window, no one should really notice. He did this often and he was becoming rather professional at sneaking out of his room since his father didn't like taking him in public. Like he was a monster or something.

Gaara grabbed a hooded shall to try the best he could at concealing his identity if he happened to run into anyone his father knew and he decided that was good enough. He slid the window opened and very easily landed two stories below with slight shock to his legs.

He shook his legs out and scoped the area one last time and headed towards the woods where he could be alone, but at peace.

~*~*~*~*~*~*

Gaara couldn't remember the last time he was truly and honestly happy. He didn't even know if people actually felt those things. He knew that there was one thing he truly did love. That was the autumn.

He loved the concept of everything dying. The leaves falling off trees and the colors everything turned and the beauty of it all. He loved the cooler weather and the later nights. Everything about the fall he loved. One thing most of all, is how every year, without fail, a leaf would land right on his nose. The first day off fall. That's why he found it odd when a leaf cupped his nose the other day. Fall wasn't due for another month and as hurt as he was because he felt like the one thing that was surefire lied to him, he felt at ease. As if, more than anything, he needed the fall.

And every single year, the fall was there for him.

Gaara would laugh about the concept of having a guardian angel. In fact, the idea was the most laughable thing in the world. However, he felt every year, fall was his guardian angel. Like nothing could hurt him when the leaves began trickling off the trees one by one and occasionally in a huge catastrophe of colors. That's when he felt safe.

Nothing ever disappointed him more than when the cold weather prickled his nose and made it nice and red. His father could leave him locked in his room all day and all night, forget to feed him and forget he existed. However, nothing stung like each year when the snow finally descends from the sky and he reminisces in his thoughts that the fall, has finally left him. Never has he felt more abandoned than on December 21st.

Gaara slid a knife out of his pocket and held up a rather thick stick that he began carving. He liked sculptures, it was one of the most appealing things to him. He was sometimes baffled when he saw them. He wasn't really impressed when people drew things, it's when they sculpted them that he really started paying attention. How everything needed to be perfect, there was nearly no re-dos. He liked the intensity of the concept.

While carving his sculpture, Gaara then began wondering if you could personify the fall, what would the person look like? How would they act? For some reason he couldn't bring himself to think of either, afraid to insult autumn.

He couldn't help himself. There was a cool chill, cold enough to give him goose bumps, he smiled.

He was then filled with a sense of urgency. Like he couldn't be here. No. That he had to be home. He didn't know why, he just knew. He dropped the stick and rushed back to his house and didn't know if he should feel scared or not when he saw his father's car not too far.

He glanced at his window and furrowed his brow. He hadn't remembered the tree next to his house sloping over that much. He didn't care to question it. He climbed up the tree and threw himself into the window just as he heard the downstairs door knob open. He closed his window and threw his shall into the closet and sat down at his desk and tried his best to look like he's been brooding if his father happened to come in to see if he was still alive.

He never did.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Lee stood in the clearing that Gaara seemed to inhabit most of his free time in and smiled when he saw that Gaara noticed what he was trying to do. He could get into a lot of trouble for meddling in his life this much, he just couldn't bring himself to care.

He glanced down in wonder, wanting to know exactly what Gaara was attempting to carve and for some reason he felt that it was him.

Even though there were no defined features and most of it wasn't really finished, Lee grabbed it and decided it was the best present he could have ever gotten. He shifted the ground beneath him and placed the stick there, in hopes to preserve it.

“You really are too sweet, Gaara.” Lee sat down on the old rotten log. He had to admit, it was his fault it was like that, but as long as it provided Gaara with a seat, he didn't mind that one of Sakura's plants had to die. As long as it rendered as a form of comfort. He didn't know what humans found comfortable.

Lee looked around and noticed that the trees hung too much and it was impossible to see the sky from here. He wanted to create an opening but found himself stopping. One reason was because he didn't want Naruto to find out that he had been messing around in the summertime and another because maybe Gaara liked the secluded area.

“I knew I'd find you here.” Lee jumped at the voice and turned quickly to be face-to-face with a concerned looking Gai.

“Gai-sensei.” Lee bowed several times. Gai was indeed his sensei. In fact, Gai was Autumn before it was passed down to Lee. That's why they had such a striking resemblance. “Why are you here?”

“Everyone is worried about you. Why you spend every waking day mulling over this person. You're so youthful, you shouldn't be dealing with this kind of stress. This isn't the Lee I know. This isn't the Lee I trained.

Lee looked down at his feet. It was true. He was a lot perkier before. Now he was just... barely functioning.

“I'm sorry Gai-sensei. I will not let this happen again.” Lee promised regretfully.

“But you will.” Gai said with a chuckle. “You will let him coerce his red-headed self back into your mind and you will be driven crazy by the ill-effects... of love.” Gai gave his signature pose and smiled brightly at Lee who seemed confused.

“But sensei... I don't exactly... I don't know what that even is.” Lee admitted and Gai seemed confused.

“Everyone said that you loved him. I thought you knew.” He stated and Lee huffed and glared upwards. Figures it was the other seasons meddling in his life.

“No. I'm the spirit of Autumn. How would I fall in love? More importantly, how would anyone fall in love with _me_?” Gai was left speechless, he hadn't known that Lee felt so strongly about that. And Lee shook his head and vanished before Gai could figure out what to say to make the youthful season feel any better than before.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“Gaara!” Gaara glanced at his door. Right now he'd been lazily laying in his bed. There wasn't much for him to do. He was locked in his room, only this time, everyone was home. He didn't bother trying to get out. He was getting really thirsty though.

He didn't reply to Temari's call. He didn't feel as though he had to. If she needed to talk to him, she could take her privileged self and unlock his door to talk to him.

Which is exactly what she did.

Temari looked a bit pale. Gaara tilted his head to the side.

“Is there something you need?” He asked and Temari nodded, as if on the verge of tears. Gaara didn't know why he rose up from his bed as quickly as he did, but that was his sister and something was bothering her.

“Can you help me? Dad just collapsed.” If Gaara felt any sympathy, it sure was gone now. He took a step back and Temari could've sworn he growled. “Please.”

“Why should I even help him?”

“Because Gaara!” She snapped. “If he dies then you'll be put in foster care!” Gaara paused and tensed up. He heard a lot of negative things about foster care. And Temari saying that made him realize that she already decided that her and Kankuro were going to live on their own. But he was only thirteen. He couldn't walk away unscathed. Temari was 16, Kankuro was 15. They could get away with it. Not if they had a thirteen year old.

Gaara inhaled deeply and helped Temari by carrying his father almost 3 miles to the hospital. Kankuro was nowhere to be found and no one could find his father's car.

Gaara waited in the hospital with Temari next to him. He didn't want to be here anymore. He didn't like this place and plus, he half hoped his father didn't make it from whatever the hell happened to him. It was probably cold and heartless to hope that upon your father, but honestly, Yondaime wasn't a father to him anyway.

Gaara watched nurses scurry around and the desk receptionists take a bunch of phone calls. He watched people scream, cry with joy or misery, he couldn't tell. It was all crying.

He realized why he hated the hospital so much. People die here. Doctor's misdiagnose their patients and everything is for naught. They die anyway. Or even worse, children are born. More people in the world to make it worse.

Gaara just didn't like people. He didn't like people living but he hated when people died too.

~*~*~*~*~*~*

“Lee.” Lee glanced up and there was Sasuke in his ice-prince glory. He looked like he was looking down on Lee, however Lee never took it to heart. Sasuke always looked angry, even if he had the best intentions.

“Yes, Sasuke?” Lee said quietly and Sasuke sat down next to Lee.

“A lot of people miss their warm sweater and campfire weather.” He said nonchalantly. Lee sighed. He should've known this was going to be a guilt trip.

“Sasuke, I'm sorry I just can't--” Sasuke covered Lee's mouth and gave him a “shut up” glare. Lee stared steadily at Sasuke.

“All I'm saying is that maybe it would be wise for you to forsake your seasonal duties... For now.” Lee's eyes were wide, a lot wider than usual.

“N-no! I promise! I will be the best Autumn you've ever seen before! I will make the leaves turn colors so beautiful that--”

“Lee, no one is as good at the Autumn season than me.” Lee turned to be face-to-face with Gai.

“Sensei, what are you talking about?” Lee asked softly and Gai smiled and pat Lee on the head.

“Lee, how would you like to be on earth for a while?” Lee held his breath. He held his breath so tightly that his face was turning red and he was seriously forgetting to breath. He couldn't properly convey his emotions. He's never felt this way before. But it seemed that Gai knew exactly how he felt, he smiled warmly and gave Lee a thumbs up.

“G-Gai- sensei. I don't know...” Gai laughed wholeheartedly.

“You say that like I was giving you the choice.” And with that, Lee saw black.


	3. Chapter 3

## Chapter 3:

When Lee awoke from his forced slumber, he noticed that he was in a tiny house. It was more like a studio apartment than anything. He sat up and looked around. It wasn't heavily furnished. There was a tiny bed in the corner, a stove, a mini fridge and a microwave. There were two doors. One led outside, the other was to the bathroom.

Lee looked down at his body. He was wearing light gray pants and bright orange socks with slippers and a green turtle-neck. He looked like he was the fall.

After sitting in the room for a moment he realized how hot he was. He never really got hot but right now he felt prickles all over his body as if he were about to sweat. He's never done that before.

Lee quickly tugged off the sweater. Underneath was just a green wife-beater shirt and he pulled his socks off so his feet were bare in the sandals.

Excitedly, he jogged over to the mirror in the room and was extremely confused when he saw himself. Spirits don't have reflections so he never really knew what he looked like. He touched the mirror with awe as he admired the way his body moved.

With his free hand, Lee touched his hair and moved it, smiling at his reflection. His teeth were nice, that was good. He liked smiling so it was nice that he could smile and look good doing so.

“Wow..” Lee mumbled when he noticed his eyebrows. He moved them up and down and giggled that they moved.

Suddenly his body became cold. How would he talk to Gaara? He had no idea how to talk to people. He didn't even know what to do!

“Lee, calm down.” Lee spun around and saw Sakura. She looked so elegant. Lee never really noticed but recalling his thoughts, he knew that as a spirit, there aren't really clothes. Sakura's body was bare, but you couldn't see anything. It was as if she was in a transparent light pink leotard.

“Sakura-sama.” He bowed and she giggled and waved her arm at him. He ceased bowing.

“Lee, since Naruto was nice enough to let me cool things off a bit in the summer time, I'm here to help you find Gaara.” She admitted and Lee tilted his head to the side. He didn't know why Sakura thought he needed help. “But first off, we need to find a very important human for you to be mentored by.” Lee's shoulders sagged slightly. “Don't worry, you'll be talking to Gaara before you know it!”

“Who am I going to see, Sakura-chan?” He asked softly and was amazed at his own voice, feeling like he never took the time to hear himself. He was speaking the human language fluently. He had a voice. A human voice.

“Just an old friend, Lee.”

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“Hello! My name is Rock Lee, you can call me Lee, it is such an honor to meet you.” Lee bowed and Sakura smiled at him.

“Rock Lee?” The man in question looked up. Gray hair and a mask covering most of his face. “You mean, the fall?”

“Autumn.” Lee automatically corrected then looked bashful. “I'm sorry, that was rude of me.”

“No no. It's fine. You take pride in your season. My name is Hatake Kakashi. You can just call me Kakashi.” His eyes smiled for his mouth and Lee beamed.

“It is great to be your student, Kakashi-sensei. Sakura-san has told me that you could help me in my transition into being a human.” Kakashi nodded slowly and stood up.

“Lee, being a spirit must have so many perks.” Lee nodded. “And being a human is a job. I suppose my question is why do you _want_ to be a human?” Lee's face lit up and he looked at the ground bashfully.

“There is this human, and I need to talk to them.” He admitted and Kakashi tilted his head to the side.

“Is this some forbidden love thing because I've read plenty of books.” He held up his novel and Lee looked flustered and shook his head quickly.

“Lee is pretty infatuated with this human.” Sakura stepped into the conversation, trying to deter Lee's embarrassment as best as she could. She seemed to make it worse.

“I'm not _infatuated_.” Lee muttered and Sakura and Kakashi chose to ignore him.

“What does she look like?” Kakashi asked and not being a human so not having any “values” of “standard relationships” neither Lee nor Sakura saw why Kakashi assumed it was a woman.

“No, it's a boy.” Sakura said bluntly and Kakashi seemed confused.

“But... boys are gross.” He deadpanned and Sakura giggled and eyed Kakashi.

“I have to agree.” Lee looked confused at the situation.

“Why assume the gender is female?” He asked and Kakashi turned to stare at Lee.

“Well... Humans standardly are attracted to the opposite gender. It has to do with pro-creating.” Kakashi informed them and it made perfect sense to Sakura. Lee had no idea how humans pro-created. He never wanted to know. It was his job to create autumn not understand humans.

“Kakashi-sensei?” Lee spoke meekly, as if embarrassed to ask a question.

“Yes, Lee?” Lee rubbed his arm and rocked on his feet.

“Does that mean... this is weird?” Lee asked finally and Kakashi looked at him softly.

“Um... Well...” He scratched his head and Lee huffed and sat down.

“There's no use. I don't want to scare him. Come on, Sakura-san. Let's go--”

“It's uncommon but it isn't rare. I've run into several gay people. I just hope that you aren't upset with the potential thought that he won't recuperate your feelings. There's a possibility.”

“Well... If not I will be his closest and most trusted friend.” Lee said with a look of determination. Sakura and Kakashi couldn't help but smile.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“Sensei.” Kakashi glanced over at him. “Here hurts.” He clutched his upper stomach and Kakashi nodded.

“You're hungry. You need to eat. That's your stomach acid.” Kakashi rose from his seat and walked over to his fridge and pulled out an apple and tossed it to Lee and took one for himself.

“This is an apple. You eat the sides and don't eat the middle. You'll still probably be hungry but it's going to take some time to cook so it's something to hold you over until dinner time.” Lee smiled happily.

“Thank you sensei.” He then began to eat the apple gratefully. Kakashi couldn't help but smile.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

 

“Gaara.” Gaara looked up, his heavy lidded eyes seemed confused. He rubbed them tiredly and stood to stand eye-to-eye with his sister.

“Yes, Temari?” She looked a bit wary as she rubbed her arm and bit her lip. Finally she spoke.

“Gaara, go home. You don't want to be here. It's fine.” She handed him the key. “Just... Don't make me regret that, okay?” Gaara stared up at his sister without a trace of any emotion. He nodded solemnly. With that he began to walk out of the hospital.

By now it was late at night. Suna tended to be chilled during nighttimes, much more so than other areas. Gaara liked this, as he liked the feeling of the cold on his bare skin. He couldn't count the amount of times he's snuck out of his room without much more than a pair of shorts. He liked the cold. It reminded him that no matter how hot it became, autumn could still arrive.

Gaara chuckled ironically without the trace of the slightest smile. He couldn't contemplate why he thought anything was funny. In this time of all. His father could very well die, how he had no idea but in any case he didn't mind.

He silently wondered where he would go. What he would do.

Gaara then noticed he was standing at the very front of the forest wall. He admired the trees, a bit of disdain, however, since the leaves were a healthy green color and none of them seemed to tinge red or yellow.

The hues of autumn were lovely. It was something he never took for granted. Even as a small child, if there was anything Gaara was grateful for, it was the way the leaves changed color and the daylight was shorter. And of course the beautiful smell of the outside.

Gaara didn't love, he honestly didn't think he knew how. But something deep down told him that no matter what, he loved the autumn.

That's why Gaara laughed. Because everyone around him had someone to love. A person they relied on and a person who could love them back. Gaara didn't have that and he never did. He didn't think he ever would.

But he had the autumn and he loved that.

So Gaara sat in his usual spot on the fallen log and watched idly as the crickets and frogs made music all around him and the fireflies speckled his vision with faded color.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“Sensei. I'm hungry.” Lee announced, in almost a bashful manner.

“Okay.” Kakashi stood up and put down his book. For the passed several hours Lee had been admiring things that humans did that he couldn't. Kakashi didn't know that Lee couldn't feel most things. He controlled season-related objects but he couldn't pick up a book or touch a blanket. The look of glee in his eyes was rather curious. Kakashi noted that it was like a small child.

Kakashi slipped on his flip-flops and began to walk out of the door. Lee was confused but he followed right behind Kakashi, making him rather uncomfortable.

“Lee, stand by my side. You aren't a stalker, you're a person.” Kakashi said sternly and Lee turned a lovely shade of pink and hung his head briefly as he scurried to meet Kakashi's strides.

“I apologize, sensei. I must ask, where are we going?” Lee asked quietly and was startled when they walked by someone and they bumped into Lee. They turned and apologized and Lee was just amazed that someone felt him.

“We're going to get something to eat. Why would we just eat apples when there are so many things you could try?” Kakashi offered and Lee smiled fondly. He concluded to himself that that sounded lovely and he wanted to try as much as he could before going back to being Autumn.

“What will you have me try?” Lee questioned several minutes into their walking trip. He found it unnerving to not hold a conversation due to the hushed tones of the few people still wondering around.

“Ramen, I think.” Kakashi said simply and nudged Lee to a doorway and Lee walked into it, not used to being solid. He laughed and Kakashi rolled his eyes and opened the door. Kakashi walked in first and Lee not too far behind.

Kakashi put the orders in and when they were situated, Kakashi finally turned to ask Lee all about the mystery man.

“So, this guy. How old is he?” Lee was confused by the question. He didn't know how humans counted their age.

“I've seen him... about ten times. So that's ten autumns... or nine, because I saw him before autumn this year... So wait, that's almost ten, right?... Uh, he's ten autumns old.” Lee announced with a smile and Kakashi chuckled and shook his head.

“I'll help you out...” Kakashi pointed to a nearby table that had three kids and parents. The youngest was about three, then there was a seven year old and lastly a fourteen year old. “Which person at that table looks closest to the age where you met this boy?” Kakashi assumed it was the fourteen year old. When Lee said the smallest one, that's when he was concerned. “So... This guy... is a boy?”

“Well... Now he's about the age of the oldest kid. Why? Is that weird?” Lee instantly looked embarrassed and hid his face.

“Well... The only issue is... Lee... Look at you. You look like you're... what? Seventeen. It might look a bit strange with you kissing a fourteen year old.”

“Kiss...?” Lee tilted his head to the side. Kakashi seemed lost at Lee's confusion.

“Yeah... Kiss. You don't know what that is?” Lee shrugged. “Lee... What exactly is it that you want to do with the boy?”

“I... I just want to take care of him. And make sure he's happy and I want to see him smile all the time. I want him to sleep, knowing that I will be there for him in the morning and I want him to be happy to see me. That's... all.” Lee nodded at his statement and Kakashi was now confused.

“So no kissing? No sex?”

“What is a sex?” Lee's innocence was unparalleled.

“...When we get to my house, you're reading one of my books.” Lee nodded and he finally saw what ramen looked like as the waitress placed it on the table and smiled at them both.

“Enjoy!”

“So. My next question.” Kakashi pulled down his mask in order to eat and Lee was just amazed at the perfectly flawed texture of his scarred skin on his left cheek. “Who is this boy?”

“Gaara.” Lee said gingerly with a small smile tugging at his lips. Kakashi just stared at the boy in shock.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“Sensei, I will meet up with you in a little while. I need to do something briefly.” Lee saluted and Kakashi waved and Lee made his way to the forest he grew to care for immensely.

His heart began hammering in his chest and he found it hard to breath. He didn't know what was wrong with him. He kept taking deep breaths but the closer he got to the forest, the stranger his body reacted. He began to sweat. His stomach felt light and heavy at the same time. He couldn't describe why he was feeling so anxious but when he stepped far enough into the forest to see the curls of red he grew to recognize, all the strange reactions grew tenfold. His knees buckled and for some reason his eyes teared up.

Gaara was right there. Gaara could see him this time. There was no hiding. There was no talking out loud unless he wanted Gaara to hear him. He tried to muffle his heavy breathing, steady it even. He couldn't. With each step closer to Gaara it began to get worse. Gaara's eyes were closed. Lee knew what this was. It wasn't sleep, Gaara normally didn't sleep. It was a daydream. Gaara liked closing his eyes and pretending he could sleep normally.

Lee reached up and plucked a leaf off of a tree. From the center of the contact, the green bled to a yellow and he took a few steps closer to Gaara.

With a shaky hand he reached out.

He put the leaf on Gaara's nose.

Gaara's eyes opened and for the first time ever, the aquamarine registered that Lee was a person.


	4. Chapter 4

## Chapter four

Lee couldn't count how long he and Gaara had just stood there in mild shock. Gaara hid his emotions well but Lee prided himself in knowing what certain faces Gaara made meant. He's known the boy for almost his whole life. Gaara was curious.

Lee never felt this way. He never knew what it was like to tremble before someone's gaze. He never noticed how beautiful Gaara's eyes were. They were more beautiful looking directly into Lee's eyes then he could ever imagine.

Neither of them forced away eye contact. Lee was shaking, he felt funny in his stomach like he was going to heave up what he just ate. His throat constricted, he couldn't talk. He just stood there like a fool and gaped at the one person he wanted to talk to for years.

Gaara slowly stretched up and grasped the tiny leaf from his nose and looked down at it. He was analyzing it, finally breaking their eyes from each other. Lee felt like he could breath briefly.

Gaara looked at all the trees around him. The leaves were all green. How did this man pull a yellow one off of them? It's summertime.

Before Gaara could say anything, he noticed Lee bow from the corner of his peripherals.

“It was nice to meet you, Gaara-san.” And with that, he sped away. Gaara stared at the disappearing figure until he couldn't make out his silhouette any longer. He sighed and sat up straighter and held the leaf in the palm of his hand.

“How did he know my name?” Gaara asked softly, brow furrowed. He's never seen the boy before. He certainly didn't know him from school, the guy looked at least four years older.

Gaara stood up and began walking back to his house still staring at the leaf he held in his hand. He knew it was from one of the trees in the forest just by the shape. But how was it yellow?

Walking up the stairs and into his bedroom, Gaara closed his door and stared at a rather large tapestry that concealed most of his wall behind his bed. He tugged it off and it fell to the side. Underneath were dozens of leaves that he had collected over the years. Each leaf was one that was cast upon his nose. He felt they were important.

He sat on his bed, holding the leaf importantly in his hand and looked up at the ones pinned to his wall, then analyzing the one in his hand.

How curious. They were all the same leaf. All but one were the same. The one from when he was four was a different leaf. He remembered the day well.

Gaara was suddenly filled with red hot rage. How dare that kid put a leaf on his nose? That was reserved for autumn. It was the second damn time a leaf was put on his nose without it being his favorite season. He was beginning to feel cheated. He felt like it wasn't sacred anymore since it was happening so frequently.

Pushing himself off the bed angrily, he began pacing back and forth.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“Are you okay?” Lee looked up like a deer in headlights as he detected the voice came from Kakashi.

“Yes, sensei. I'm fine.” Lee said airily and sat down. He started taking in deep breaths and Kakashi sat down next to him.

“Did you meet your boy?” He asked and Lee looked up and turned his attention away from Kakashi and nodded.

“Y-yes. I meet Gaara-sama.” Kakashi smiled at the apparently large respect Lee held for the other. He didn't bring it up though.

“How did it go?” Kakashi asked out of curiosity. Based on Lee's expression, not well.

“I ran away. I said it was nice to meet him though. I just... I used to kind of... follow him...” Lee turned red at his confession. “and he never really talked to anyone so I didn't know how he would react to me talking so I got so nervous I ran away...”

“Sounds like you've got it bad.” Kakashi chuckled and leaned back on the couch.

“Sensei. I feel weak.” Lee admitted and Kakashi smiled at him.

“Come on Lee. You technically live in my back yard. Let's get you to bed.” Kakashi stood up and Lee followed him. He brought him back to the small house that Lee had first arrived in and Lee smiled fondly. He liked it, even though it was small. “Here you go. Goodnight.”

Lee bid Kakashi farewell and thanked him for about 3 minutes and Kakashi went back inside. Now Lee was alone and he didn't know how to handle it.

He walked inside his small house and sat on his bed like he saw Gaara do so many times. He then slammed his head on the wall behind him.

“What is wrong with me?” He sighed and felt the air grow a tad bit cooler. He opened his eyes and the spirit of Spring, Sakura, stood in front of him with a frown.

“I take it that it didn't go as according to plan?” She said and Lee smiled at her.

“Sakura, there was never a plan. I don't even know what I'm doing. I don't know how he interacts with people. I've never really seen it. And I've heard him talk once. I don't even know if he does it that often.”

“Sweetie, you're going to have to try if you want him to talk to you. You can't keep running away from him. You're one of the nicest souls I've ever encountered. You can do this and when you do, Gaara will care for you. I just know it.” Her kind words eased Lee's mood enough for him to smile and sit up.

“You're right. I'll talk to him tomorrow.”

*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Gaara sat on his window sill and overlooked the people walking around the street he could see. He didn't know what to do. He didn't exactly know how to put his mind on this new person he had met. He just... didn't know.

Did he want to meet the boy that ruined his autumn?

As Gaara thought and thought a sudden realization dawned upon him. But for him to be sure, he needed to see the mysterious person again. Odd that he's never seen him before. Gaara didn't know how to handle the situation. He didn't know what to say. But the boy did something that was sacred between Gaara and Autumn.

Gaara chuckled wryly at the protective nature he was showing based on the fact that a boy put a leaf on his nose. He didn't know what was wrong with him...

He pushed himself up and looked through his closet struggling to find the outfit he wanted to wear. Not like he was trying to look nice, but the weather had gone pretty awry. Sometimes it was really hot and other times it was nice and cool.

Deciding on a pair of jeans and a wife beater shirt and tying a hoodie around his waist 90's style, he walked out the door. No one was home. Everyone was at the hospital. Gaara had taken it upon himself to stay at the house and make sure everything stayed in order. In reality, he just didn't want to be at the hospital.

Not knowing the first place to start looking, Gaara went into a small diner to get something to eat. He hadn't eaten much in the past few days and before he left he made sure to pocket some money from his father who left everything in his bedroom, top drawer in a notepad.

He wasn't sitting for very long before a pair walked into the very same diner. A man with silver hair and a mask. Kakashi, Gaara knew him. And it was the boy from before.

At first the strange boy didn't notice Gaara, but Gaara couldn't tear his eyes away from him. Eventually, the boy chuckled at something Kakashi said and looked away. Looked away, in Gaara's direction. His face turned bright red and Kakashi looked at him funny and stared at the direction of his gaze.

Suddenly, Kakashi shoved him to the table and Gaara completely eyed him taking in his very odd appearance. A green sleeveless shirt, brown shorts, orange socks and slippers. Shiny black hair and possibly the biggest eyebrows Gaara had ever seen. His face was extremely red and Gaara saw that he was sweating.

Gaara never talked to anyone. He hated talking to people. So he sat there in his booth staring down this boy who seemed to be choking on air. Kakashi strolled over after noticing how nothing was happening and shoved the boy into the booth opposite of Gaara and sat down as well.

“Good morning, Gaara. I heard about your father. How are you taking it?” Gaara stared at Kakashi for several seconds and played with his cup of water.

“I'm fine. I don't care.” Gaara's voice sent shivers down Lee's spine. He wanted to listen to Gaara read the phone book. As long as Gaara never stopped talking. Even if whatever he was saying was rather morbid. Kakashi didn't seem to care.

“I see. Well anyway, this is Rock Lee. You can call him Lee. He's not from around here. He'll be staying with me at the dojo. I haven't seen you there in quite some time.” Kakashi mentioned and Gaara nodded. Kakashi used to be his sensei but his father didn't feel like paying for lessons anymore so he couldn't go. Kakashi was a good teacher.

But that wasn't his concern. The boy's name was Lee. Gaara found him odd. He didn't really know what to say but since he was staring at him so intently, Gaara found it in his heart to say hello.

“Good morning, Lee.” Lee felt like his heart explode at hearing Gaara talk to him. All this time and he's rarely heard Gaara talk. And now, he even said his name.

“M-morning G-gaara-sama.” Lee bowed his head and Gaara furrowed his brow. He had no idea why this Lee character was being so formal. Or why he seemed so nervous. Was he even sweating?

Gaara remembered the anger he felt towards this man. He put a leaf on his nose when Gaara specifically had that reserved. He sneaked up on him in the middle of the woods. However, the anger dissipated and Gaara found himself comfortable whereas he was usually very twitchy in these situations.

“So you're here by yourself?” Kakashi said after several moments of silence. Gaara tore away his gaze from Lee to look at Kakashi.

“Yes.” He answered shortly. The waitress came over and Kakashi ordered two waters and a plate of fries. Lee seemed excited, now taking his focus off of Gaara.

“What are fries, sensei?” He asked once the waitress was gone.

“Potatoes.” Kakashi said simply. “Fried.”

“Potatoes! I appreciate potatoes!” Lee seemed glad at this and Gaara just stared at him in mild curiosity.

“Why..?” Kakashi seemed to ask the question Gaara was dying to know. What an odd thing to say.

“They are great plants. They are in season all year round. Although, they're best harvested in summer since you plant the in spring. But I like that you can have them all of the time. Unlike apples which are normally an autumn plant. Which is why I like them the most!” Kakashi laughed at Lee's dedication to his season and he liked that even though Lee's first time eating an apple was the other day, he always liked them because they were in his season.

“Aren't pumpkins also a fall plant?” Kakashi humored Lee who lit up at the question but seemed annoyed at the same time.

“It's Autumn.” Lee automatically corrected and that peeked Gaara's interest. So was autumn his favorite season too? “And they're in season the start of fall but they also go to March. So technically they're an autumn-winter-semi spring plant.”

“What don't you know about Autumn?” Kakashi smirked and Lee looked offended at the question.

“I know everything about Autumn.”

“Autumn is my favorite season.” Gaara spoke quietly and Lee's head snapped in his direction and his smile lit up the room. Gaara didn't understand why Lee looked at him with the admiration he held.

“Mine too.” He said tenderly and Gaara raised a brow at the tone and Lee realized he was acting strangely and looked down and turned beet red.

“You're weird.” Gaara said flatly and Lee slouched and stared at the table. “It's fine though. Who isn't?”

The insult was now suddenly the greatest thing Lee had ever heard. He didn't look up, but Gaara saw the shy smile he was trying to hide.

The rest of the meal was pretty uneventful. No one really said anything. Gaara filled his talking quota for the year and Kakashi was too busy reading a book and Lee was trying not to make it too obvious that he was staring blatantly at Gaara who pretended not to notice.

“Excuse me.” Lee got up and went to the bathroom and Gaara decided it was time to speak.

“What is wrong with him?” Gaara didn't mean it in a rude way. He was concerned with why Lee was acting like a madman.

“He's shy. He'll warm up to you.” Kakashi chuckled and Gaara contemplated on if he wanted Lee to warm up to him. He didn't know if it was worth it.

Although, he always did wonder what it was like to have a friend. Gaara was always left out from everything. Even at school. No one really bothered to talk to him, and now there is this older boy who took a very strange interest in him. It was flattering at the same time as it was weird.

Gaara absently wondered if the man was homosexual. He's never met a gay person before. His father spoke poorly of them. Then again, his father spoke poorly of him too. He assumed they were nice people, only because his father hated them. And his father was wrong about a lot of things

“I think you should come to the dojo.” Kakashi said, off handed. This took Gaara away from his thoughts and he shook his head.

“I don't have the money for that.” Gaara mumbled and the waitress came with the bill and Gaara went to grab it and Kakashi quickly snatched it and placed a bill in the sleeve and handed it to the woman and she walked away. “Why?”

“Consider it an apology for Lee being weird.” Kakashi smirked under his mask. “Drop by the dojo sometime. Would love to have you back. You have potential. Plus... between you and me... Lee could use a friend. I'm the only person he has to talk to.” With a wicked twinkle in his eye, he collected his change and placed the tip in the middle of the table as Lee walked out of the bathroom.

“I will consider.” Gaara said quietly and bowed his head very slightly. “Thank you.”

“You're welcome. See you around Gaara.” Lee was sputtering nonsense when Kakashi elbowed him as Gaara walked away.

“BYE.” Lee said loudly and Gaara turned to look at him oddly before he walked out the door and Lee turned red again.

“You really need to work on this thing called suave. You seem to not have it. How can you control a whole season, but be completely and utterly awful at talking to a fourteen year old?”

“I don't know...” Lee sighed. “He's never going to talk to me ever again and I'm so embarrassed.” He covered his face in his hands and Kakashi began walking out of the diner with Lee following behind.

“Are you going to give up?” Kakashi asked curiously. Lee could stop and go back to controlling the fall.

“No. I won't give up.” Lee said determinedly. “I'm sick of people giving up on him. I refuse to give up on Gaara. He is my special person and I'm going to make him happy if it is the last thing I do.” Lee clenched his fist dramatically and Kakashi just shook his head and laughed.


	5. Chapter 5

## Chapter 5

Hours, days, who knew how long it had been? Lee was sitting in the center of the dojo looking down at the floor. For some reason he felt... off.

Kakashi had been worrying. He didn't know what was the autumn spirit's problem was. He'd asked him about it but Lee just didn't speak.

Kakashi finally had enough. He walked outside and looked up at the sky. It was blazing hot out today and in Suna, it practically trapped the heat in. He was sweating and he wiped his forehead as he continued to look up. He wiped his brow and sighed.

“Naruto, Sakura, Sasuke. I don't know what's going on with Lee, but someone better come and explain this to me.” Kakashi called out. He hoped nothing was wrong with Lee. He was starting to really like the boy. For an immortal teenager though, he was very different. He was very determined and he was very shy. He controlled pretty much 4 months out of the year and he couldn't bring himself to say hello to Gaara without making a fool of himself.

Looking slightly to the left, he noticed the plants in front of his house, which had dried out due to the extreme heat, blossomed beautifully and the cherry blossom tree shed a few petals. A soft pink hue was seen like a silhouette in front of him and he stared at it in mild curiosity and it walked through him and into the dojo behind him.

Turning around, Kakashi followed the spirit into his home, figuring if it were anyone, it was Sakura.

He wasn't surprised when Sakura materialized in front of him. She walked over to Lee and squatted down and smiled at him, brushing her hand on his face and whispering a soft “Are you okay, Lee?”

Lee looked up and he wanted to say yes. He didn't want to worry anyone but he couldn't bring himself to it. So with a shake of his head he responded with a solemn “No, Sakura. I am not.”

Sakura figured as much. She'd been paying close attention to him since he was sent to the earth and she over looked him and frowned.

“Gai.” She called and not too long after, Gai was standing in front of them looking worried himself.

“Hey bud.” Gai sat down besides Lee and Kakashi walked over.

“He's been like this for a few days. I didn't know what to do. He seems to be in pain.” Sakura smiled softly at Kakashi's words and her and Gai shared a knowing look.

“Lee, listen. We sent you here with the best intentions we had. We want you to be happy and you weren't happy anymore. We sent you here to be with Gaara. And... Well... you're not. What you're feeling is one of two things. Either your spirit is rejecting your human form and you're going to turn immortal again, or you're going to die.” Sakura explained as best as she could.

Lee looked up at her in horror. He'd been alive for so long, he didn't know what to think about the possibility of dying. “How do I stop it?” He choked out.

Before anyone could answer, the dojo door opened. Lee looked up and color showed back up on his face. His body was functioning properly and finally, he had enough energy to stand up. He stared at the figure in the doorway curiously. He only saw an outline since it was so bright outside.

“You told me to stop by?” Gaara said awkwardly from the door. Lee hopped up. Sakura and Gai looked at each other and smiled. They knew as long as Lee was near Gaara, everything would be okay. The problem was to get Lee to gain enough courage to be near Gaara all the time.

Since they were spirits, they were able to cloak themselves from mortals seeing them. They looked at Kakashi and he nodded. They vanished and all that was left in the room was the beautiful scent of young love. One sided young love, but young love nonetheless.

“Gaara!” Lee said excitedly and Gaara walked into the dojo further. He was holding a duffel bag. Lee could barely control himself. The duffel bag was almost the size of Gaara. It was so cute to see him so little.

“I'm glad you could make it.” Kakashi said, very honestly. He didn't know what he'd do if Lee just died. He couldn't handle killing the humanoid form of a season.

“I won't stay for long.” Gaara admitted and placed his bag next to the doorway and walked over. Lee eyed him. Brown capris and a black v neck shirt. His hair was tousled and the rings around his eyes were as dark as ever. Lee's heart was practically in his throat.

“Why not?” Lee mean to ask that question but he couldn't speak so Kakashi asked for him. Lee was grateful.

“I'll need to get going is all.” Was all Gaara said. He walked a few feet in front of the other two occupants of the room and then gave Kakashi his full attention.

“So what are we going to do?” He asked and Kakashi smiled under his mask.

“Let's spar for a while.” He offered and Gaara seemed pleased. Lee was a bit more confused.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"Guys are you hungry?" Lee looked over at Kakashi and went to answer and that's when he found himself pinned under a very victorious Gaara.

"You should learn to pay attention better." He noted and Lee almost choked on his tongue. Warmth spread through his body. "Are you... ok?"

"Yeah." Kakashi said a little too quickly. "He's just... slow sometimes."Lee didn't understand to what extent Kakashi was saying but felt as though as he was being made fun of.

"I am _not_ slow, Kakashi-sensei. In fact I can run at an impressive speed." Lee countered, not paying attention to the fact that he still had the 4'9 human that was Gaara on top of him.

"Sounds convincing. Come on you two. I'm hungry. I know you must be." He walked away and Lee finally paid attention to his position with Gaara. Gaara glanced at him curiously. It seemed neither of them understood the sexual nature of their positions. Gaara slowly got up and even extended his hand to help up Lee.

"Thank you, Gaara-sama." Gaara perked a brow at the formality, but said nothing further. 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"Gaara, I know it's got to be completely uncool to hang out with this guy," Kakashi nudged Lee. "but do you think that you can show him around? I'm much too busy." Kakashi said as he was reading one of his books.

"You're literally not busy." Gaara stated and Lee felt awkward. Maybe this wasn't a good idea...

"So busy." Kakashi murmured and Gaara sighed.

In all honesty, it was nice. Gaara never felt like he was needed. And it wasn't like he needed to show Lee around or he would spontaneously combust. But he never really had anyone count on him is all. 

"I suppose I could..." Gaara agreed quietly. Lee thought he was going to explode. He needed to calm down. Like, yesterday.

"Well why don't you guys do it now. You're harshing my mellow." Kakashi said easily, Lee knew he was smirking under that mask.

"Come on." Gaara stood up and Lee did at the same time. It was so weird seeing how much smaller Gaara was now that he was a human. Lee couldn't help but remember the tiny chubby Gaara he first met. He wondered if Gaara had remembered all those years ago when he put that leaf on his nose. The thought made him warm.

"Where are we going, Gaara-sama?" Lee asked politely. Almost like he was in the presence of royalty and he needed to maintain a professional composure. Suddenly, Gaara stopped.

"Why do you keep calling me sama?" He asked quietly. "I'm nothing special. It's just Gaara." Lee's heart honestly cracked at that. Gaara seemed so sure. Lee grabbed his arm, feeling the same warmth prickle up his arm.

"Don't say that." Lee said seriously. 

"You don't know me." Gaara snapped. Lee held his posture. "So stop pretending you do."

"Gaara-sama." Lee said forcefully. "I may not know much about you but I know that you should not think so low of yourself."

"What are you honestly doing?" Gaara asked, eyes narrowing. "You've been way too nice to me. What is your endgame?" 

"Endgame...?" Lee looked crestfallen. "Gaara-sama. I don't have any ulterior motives. I swear on autumn--" If Lee thought that Gaara caught him off guard before, he didn't know how quick Gaara could move when he was mad. 

"Don't you _dare_." Gaara hissed, pinning Lee down, holding his hands above his head. The closeness nearly burned Lee. He wanted Gaara to touch his skin. It hurt in a way, it was such a strong amount of feelings. "You ruined the autumn for me." Lee stared at Gaara like he just smacked him across the face.

"W-what?" He stuttered and Gaara pushed himself up and glared at Lee, who did nothing to move himself from his position.

"You put that damn leaf on my nose!" This was the loudest he'd ever seen Gaara.

"Yeah." Lee smiled softly. "I did--"

"It's not autumn. That only happens in autumn and you ruined it. The one thing I had, you ruined it." Lee took a sharp inhale of breath. There was an icy feeling in his heart. He ruined it? How did he ruin it? He always did it. He wanted to reach out, tell Gaara that he was autumn. Gaara just shook his head and turned around and stormed away from Lee.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"Maybe... I don't know. Maybe I should just give up." Lee whispered, mainly to himself. But if someone else was listening, he would object to some friendly advice.

No one was.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Gaara sat at his desk, looking out of the window. He hated the summertime. He was much too impatient. The only thing he had going for him was the fact that it was almost autumn. Just a little while longer. Then he could forget about Lee.

Lee and his stupid eyebrows and his stupid face. And his stupid niceness. Who is ever that nice? He clearly wanted something. It had to be it. And who did he think he was? Showing up and proclaiming his love for autumn. 

Gaara had been so immersed in his own mind that he didn't realize the front door opened and closed.

"This house looks like shit." Gaara's hair stood on end. His father was home. What the hell was he doing alive? "Where is that little prick?"

"Gaara is upstairs." Tamari answered quietly.

"Then bring his ass down here. What does he think? That while I'm away he can just not visit me and trash my own house!? Something is wrong with that kid. We need to do something about it." Gaara stared at the floor, shame curling up his back, waiting to be gotten by Temari, who opened the door with a frown.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Lee decided it was for the best that he took a night jog. He always liked the night time the best. Especially being human. Sure he was tired which never happened before. But there was less people now and it did take a while for Lee to remember he couldn't walk through things which made for some pretty embarrassing moments. 

Something told him, in the pit of his stomach to go to the clearing that Gaara was usually in. He never had a gut feeling before. It was weird. He turned around and jogged there determinedly. He wondered to himself what he would see when he was there. He assumed Gaara and the thought filled him with equal amounts of excitement and embarrassment. Even so, nothing would stop him from seeing Gaara. Even if Gaara was mad at him. 

When he got to Gaara's secluded spot, he noticed Gaara was indeed there. And he was curled under a tree in fetal position. Lee tilted his head to the side.

"Gaara-sama...?" Gaara retracted more in his position, hiding away from Lee's intrusive eyes. "Are you okay?"

Gaara didn't speak. Lee knew for a fact he wasn't okay. It was a stupid question, he knew. It was rather embarrassing of him to ask it. He sat right next to Gaara silently. If Gaara wanted to talk to him, he wanted to be there. 

It took perhaps twenty seven minutes of silence for Gaara to uncurl himself. Lee knew why Gaara was like this. It was his father. This is how Gaara got when he was upset about his father. But Lee couldn't say that to Gaara. It would sound incredibly creepy if he admitted to Gaara that he used to watch him on a regular basis. 

"My dad." Gaara said quietly. Lee stayed silent, hoping it would coax Gaara into speaking more. He loved Gaara's voice. "He just... doesn't like me much I guess." 

"I can't understand why." Lee admitted 

"Why?" Gaara completely uncurled himself and looked at Lee directly. "Why are you so nice to me?"

Lee almost told Gaara the truth. You're my special person. But he caught himself. He stumbled with his words briefly, but he smiled. 

"I like you, Gaara. And I think that we could be friends." He spoke so softly, it gave Gaara the chills.

"You're so much older than me. Why do you want to be friends with me?" Lee giggled at the question, a glint in his eye. Gaara had no idea how much older he was. And the thought made him laugh. Lee had been autumn since... probably about Gaara's great-great-great-great-great-great grandparents. Maybe even longer.

"Is life really so shallow that we have to depend on ages to tell us who is and isn't important to us?" Lee questioned and Gaara looked down, cheeks pinkened. 

"I'm not important to anyone..." The comment wasn't supposed to be said out loud. Lee could tell that much. But he couldn't help but comment on it.

"You have the potential to be very important to me." Lee's eyes locked with Gaara. For the first time, he wasn't nervous. Gaara was looking at him. No. Gaara _saw_ him and that was so much more important than anything. "If you want to, that is."

"I..." Gaara trailed off, now very confused. He'd never had to face something of this multitude. No one talked to him. Even at school. He was more alone than he'd realized and for the first time, he didn't have to me. "I'd like that." Lee beamed.

"Of course, Gaara-Sama." Gaara sighed and rolled his eyes.

"Don't call me that please. It makes me feel weird." Lee looked at him with a tiny smile and nodded slowly.

"Of course Gaara. I apologize." Gaara nodded in acknowledgement and stayed quiet for a few minutes.

"Thank you for that though." Lee looked up curiously. "For... thinking I was worth the title."

"Gaara, you are worth it." Lee said earnestly. It was the first time Gaara felt like someone was telling him the truth. Him and Lee shared a secret smile. Lee was weird. But Gaara decided that he liked it.


End file.
